Drawing Portraits and Figures

We had a really fun assignment in drawing class recently. We had to take pictures of each other and make a composite drawing of four people. The drawing could have two different eyes and eyebrows, a nose from more than one person — same with the mouth, the ears, even the hair. Mix and match. You get the picture? Let me show you mine!

Angela, Scott, Diane and Liz

In our last class, we spent several hours practicing gesture drawings and beginning sketches with a life model. Anybody who is involved in the art world in southern Maine probably knows our model — Mary Stanford.

Here’s one of the sketches I did of Mary.

Mary has been inspiring students and professional artists for the past 30 years and I decided that I just had to ask her if I could tell her story for the blog. She said yes and a few days ago I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing her and seeing a wonderful collection of art that people have created of her over the years.

This past spring, her friends surprised her for her birthday with a special art show — “All About Mary.” She told me it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. This picture was taken just as she walked through the door and everyone yelled “Surprise!”

Courtesy Mary Stanford

I’ll share Mary’s story and some art work she has inspired in my next blog post.